Mortal Melody
by DAIrinchan
Summary: Drabble. Kit finds out what Ty's been listening to.


**Disclaimer:** TDA still isn't mine, in case any of you thought that had changed. The song "Lady Midnight" belongs to the estate of Leonard Cohen, oh gods, why did everything bad have to happen in the same week? Classical composers mentioned belong to history, and their music is in the public domain.

* * *

When Kit headed for the Institute's living room – Shadowhunters had tv, who knew? – he found Ty already there, curled up on a corner of the couch with a book open on his lap, showing glossy pictures of bats.

"Morning, Ty," Kit said. Ty didn't answer, but Kit caught the telltale flicker of his eyes. He was learning how to read the ways Ty responded differently from other people. He sat down as close as he felt he could without making Ty uncomfortable. He must have guessed the distance right, because Ty didn't pull away.

He had on his headphones, as usual. They were always with him, around his neck or over his ears as he concentrated. In a burst of curiosity, Kit asked, "What're you listening to?"

Ty glanced at him and freed one ear from his headphones. "Hm?"

Kit repeated the question.

"Leonard Cohen," Ty told him. "The song's called 'Lady Midnight.'"

"Can i listen?" Kit asked. His dad had liked Leonard Cohen. The name reminded him of home, although the title of the song didn't sound familiar.

"I guess," Ty said. "Let me start it over." He passed Kit the headphones and fiddled with the player. Kit closed his eyes to listen to the song, about a man trying to convince a woman to accept him. Now that he heard it, he thought he might've heard the song before, but it wasn't one he'd paid a lot of attention to.

"Thanks," he said when the song ended and he passed he headphones back. Ty hooked them around his neck but didn't go back to his music, something Kit found mildly gratifying. "Really. Do you listen to him a lot?"

"Not really," Ty continued to fiddle with his player. "Sometimes."

"Well, what kind of music do you like?" Kit asked. Maybe they had some music in common.

"Mostly i like instrumental music," Ty explained. "I like classical. It doesn't distract me and it helps . . . It just helps. Sometimes i just wear my headphones without listening to anything."

"Why's that?"

"I like the way it blocks out extra sound," Ty explained. "It just feels right."

"Okay." It was kind of weird, but it did make sense. Kit had done plenty of weirder stuff. "So what classical composers do you like?" _Look at me,_ he thought, _acting like i know anything about classical music._

"I like Debussy," Ty said after a pause.

"Never heard of him," Kit admitted. "It is a him, right?"

"Yeah." Ty thought some more. Kit watched the way his fingers slowly curled and uncurled around his headphone cord, as if it wasn't a conscious action. "Nobody's ever heard of Bądarzewska, i think," Ty mused. His eyes flicked to Kit's and away again.

"Nope," Kit confirmed. "I wouldn't even be able to say his name."

"That one's a her," Ty told him. "What about Tchaikovsky?"

"Him i've heard of," Kit confirmed. There was no need to mention that the closest he'd ever got to listening to Tchaikovsky's music was Queen's "Another One Bites The Dust." Maybe some stuff from _The Nutcracker_ , but he wasn't any kind of expert. "Want to play me some?"

Ty's fingers twisted harder around the cord. If he wasn't careful, he'd damage it. "If you'd rather listen by yourself, that's fine," Kit said. "We could do it another time."

"No, it's fine," Ty said quickly. "Let's go to the computer room. If we play it on Watson, we can both listen."

"Sure," Kit said. "And then maybe i can find some of my music for you." He felt a little shy about the offer, but hey, even exchange, right?

"Okay," Ty replied. "I 'd like that."

"It's a deal, then." Kit got up and pulled Ty to his feet. "Let's go." They both liked music, and that was a start.

* * *

 **A/N:** So i've had the idea of Ty and Kit listening to "Lady Midnight" for about as long as i've known they've shared a title, and the funny thing is that i was going to have Kit listening to Ty's music, and Ty mainly liking instrumental music, even before Cassie posted on her tumblr about Ty mainly listening to classical. Even after that, i still had to have them listening to Leonard Cohen for this, because "Lady Midnight." Come on. (Now i wish i'd finished this the week of Leonard Cohen's death, like i meant to, to have beaten her announcement.) By the way, if we're talking about Leonard Cohen songs that correlate to _Lady Midnight_ , i feel the best match is actually "Is This What You Wanted", which i think about sums up the Jemma relationship after the end of the book.

If you didn't understand what i meant about Queen and Tchaikovsky, don't worry about it. I'm sorry, i couldn't resist throwing the reference in. If you did get it, i salute your taste.


End file.
